Stratospheric methane concentration profiles measured during the Balloon Intercomparison Campaigns

Abstract

Following the Balloon Intercomparison Campaigns carried out from the NSBF, Palestine, Texas, in the fall of 1982 (BIG1) and spring of 1983 (BIC2), three instruments have reported infrared measurements (one in emission and two in absorption) from which results on the concentration of methane between 20 and 40 km altitude have been deduced. While "the absorption-retrieved concentration profiles are in excellent agreement, the results from the emission measurements are significantly lower. Recent methane profiles obtained by satellite and from Spacelab 1 are in satisfactory agreement with the absorption data reported here.

Instrumentation for Chemical Species Measurements in the Troposphere and Stratosphere

“…IR techniques are also being used to follow trends in the total methane column [Zander at al., 1989b; Wallace and Livingston, 1990], while both infrared absorption and emission techniques to determine stratospheric profiles were intercompared as part of BIC [Zander et al, 1990a]. Space craft and airborne FTIR systems also provide accurate stratospheric CH 4 profiles [Toon et al, 1989; Gunson at al., 1990].…”